Job Opening: Position: Executive Assistant, Japan Center for International Exchange USA (JCIE/USA) [part-time]

Posted on December 4, 2012 by LM

job opening - 5Job posting via JetWIT.com.

Position: Executive Assistant
Posted by:  Japan Center for International Exchange USA (JCIE/USA)
Type: Part-time
Location: New York, New York
Salary: Commensurate with experience; competitive in the nonprofit sector
Start Date: Immediately

Job description:

The Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA) is a leading nonprofit organization in the field of US-Japan relations that conducts international political exchanges and fosters dialogue between policymakers and policy researchers on both sides of the Pacific. JCIE/USA is seeking a part-time executive assistant for its small New York office. The job requires considerable flexibility and organization, as the duties include assisting various aspects of office operation, providing administrative support to the executive director, and handling day-to-day office tasks.

Responsibilities will include:

1.  Light Bookkeeping

  • Recording office expenses, maintaining accounting records
  • Paying bills and processing payroll
  • Tracking expenditures and producing basic expense reports
  • Providing assistance during annual audit

2. Office administration

  • Providing administrative assistance to the executive director
  • Managing office supplies and vendors
  • Arranging travel logistics
  • Handling incoming calls and sorting mail
  • Copying, faxing, mailing, filing, and other general office tasks
  • Maintaining and updating office database
  • Acting as benefits administrator
  • Providing logistical support for seminars and other meetings as requested
  • Performing additional office duties as requested

Candidate Attributes & Qualifications:

Required qualifications

  • Previous experience handling administrative and bookkeeping matters
  • English fluency necessary, Japanese language skills a plus
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Basic computer skills

Desired qualifications

  • Experience working in a Japanese office environment, cultural sensitivity, and an understanding of Japanese business practices
  • Interest in non-profit sector, international affairs, and US-Japan relations

Work permission necessary

How to apply: Please email cover letter and resume to:

Ms. Atsuko Geiger at info@jcie.org. No phone calls please.

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Job Opening: Research Analyst in the Political/Economic Affairs Section, Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit

Posted on December 4, 2012 by LM

job opening - 5Via the Great Lakes JETAA:

Institution: Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit
Location: Detroit, MI
Education: 4-year degree
Deadline: not listed

1. Background on the Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit:

In 1993, as a result of the growing number of Japanese residents and businesses in Michigan and Ohio, the Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit was established. Consulate surveys indicate that there is now a combined total of 900 Japanese owned facilities in Michigan and Ohio. The current two-state population of Japanese nationals exceeds 18,000.

Important consulate missions include: providing support and service to local Japanese nationals, promoting trade and business development between Japan and the U.S., and strengthening U.S.-Japan relations and mutual understanding through various local economic, educational and cultural activities and exchanges.

2. Available Position (Full-time):
Research Analyst in the Political/Economic Affairs Section

3. Main Responsibilities:
Assistance in consulate efforts to strengthen U.S-Japan trade and investment within the states of Ohio and Michigan; duties include:
gathering, organizing and analyzing information on relevant economic and political issues in the states; administering the consulate’s annual Japanese Direct Investment Survey.
drafting speeches and official correspondence for the Consul General and Deputy Consul General;

4. Requirements:

  • Four-year university degree;
  • Ability to research, analyze and communicate political and economic topics;
  • High proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, especially Excel and Access; Photoshop and mapping software experience preferred.
  • Good verbal and written communication skills.

For full details and to apply, see original posting on the Consulate-General’s website.

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Job Opening: Translator Apprenticeship, Multiling

Posted on December 3, 2012 by LM

job opening - 5Via JETWit.com.

Company: Multiling
Location: Provo, Utah, and Yokohama, Japan
Education: Bachelor’s conferred by May 2013
Language requirement: JLPT 1 or equivalent

ONE-YEAR PAID APPRENTICESHIP – JAPANESE LANGUAGE SKILLS REQUIRED
Located in Provo, UT (Feb-Apr 2013) and Yokohama, Japan (May-Jan 2013)

MultiLing Corporation is looking for a talented and capable individual to join its subsidiary, MultiLing Japan Y.K., on location in Yokohama, Japan for a full-time one-year apprenticeship position Responsibilities will include translating, editing and reviewing Japanese to English documents and other related tasks. Please see list of specific requirements below:

Qualifications:
• Demonstrated oral and written fluency in English at the HIGHEST LEVEL (required)
• Demonstrated oral and written fluency in Japanese with an emphasis on reading ability JLPT level 1 or equivalent (required)
• Ability to pass pre-interview language proficiency test (required)
• Bachelor’s degree conferred or to be conferred by May 2013) (required)
• Genuine interest in living outside of the U.S. on a long-term basis (preferred)
• Computer and communication skills (preferred)
• Some translation experience (preferred)
• Familiarity with technical or scientific terminology (preferred)

Process:
Candidates will be required to complete a series of progressively difficult language tests and participate in multiple Skype interviews.

Compensation:
A monthly salary will be paid in local currency and the selected candidate will receive complimentary single-person lodging for the duration of the assignment along with a one-way moving stipend. Additionally, this position will be eligible for paid holidays at location assignment, as well as other company benefits.

About MultiLing Corporation:
Founded in 1988, MultiLing specializes in translating for the patent, IT, chemical, medical technology, biotechnology and automotive industries. Current clients include many Fortune 500 companies such as Dell, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, TYCO, Münchener Rück, LSI Corporation, and Promise Technology.

NOTE: Only candidates with have a genuine interest in pursuing a professional career as a technical translator in locations outside of the United States on a long-term basis should apply.

***TO APPLY: Qualified and interested parties may apply online: http://www.multiling.com/AboutUs/Careers.aspx

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Funding: Travel Grant – Harvard-Yenching Library

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Paula

The Harvard-Yenching Library is pleased to announce its Travel Grant Program for the 2012-2013 academic year.  The purpose of the grant is to assist scholars from outside the metropolitan Boston area in their use of the Harvard-Yenching Library’s collections for research.  There will be 16 grants of $400 each (seven in Chinese studies, seven in Japanese studies, and two in Korean studies) to be awarded on a merit basis to faculty members and to graduate students engaged in dissertation research. Priority consideration will be given to those at institutions where there are no or few library resources in the East Asian languages, and no major East Asian library collections are available nearby.  Each grantee will also be provided with the privilege of free photocopying of up to 100 sheets.  Please note that the awards must be used before August 1, 2013.

Applications for the travel grant, including a letter, a brief description of the research topic, and an estimated budget, should be addressed to the following:

James K. M. Cheng
Librarian
Harvard-Yenching Library
2 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02138

Fax: (617) 496-6008
Email: jkcheng@fas.harvard.edu

Deadline: December 31st, 2012.

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Book Announcement: The Concept of Danzō ‘Sandalwood Images’ in Japanese Buddhist Sculpture of the 8th to 14th Centuries

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Paula

Christian Boehm
The Concept of Danzō: ‘Sandalwood Images’ in Japanese Buddhist Sculpture of the 8th to 14th Centuries

London: Saffron Books, 2012
264pp, hard cover, 287mm x 210mm, 165 colour and black and white
illustrations
Saffron Asian Art & Society Series
ISBN-13 9781872843186

This lavishly illustrated volume is the first study in a Western language to examine Buddhist sculptures known as danzō (sandalwood images) and dangan (portable sandalwood shrines) in Japan from the 8th to 14th centuries, including Chinese examples from the 6th to 13th centuries, which were imported into Japan and played a major role in the establishment of an indigenous danzō tradition.

The author defines danzō as religious icons in terms of their material, form (iconography and style) and religious functions. This includes a careful examination of major issues in the study of danzō such as the
transmission of danzō from India via China to Japan, the choice of substitute materials for sandalwood, carving technique, and danjiki (colour of sandalwood). Most importantly, this study proposes a new definition of the form of danzō based on the distinction between the type-style and period-style.

Furthermore, it demonstrates how the aesthetic-religious concept of shōgon (sublime adornment), which is important to Buddhist art in general, is expressed in danzō, making them into objects of shōgon par excellence.  A wealth of textual evidence is presented to suggest that the two most common religious functions of danzō were as icons in ceremonies and for personal devotion for high-ranking monks, aristocrats, and members of the imperial family, which reflects the special sanctity and efficacy ascribed to these images.

This book aims at a more inclusive understanding of danzō as religious icons with distinctive material, formal and functional characteristics that define them as a unique group of sacred images within Japanese Buddhist sculpture.

Continue reading →

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Postdoctoral Fellowships (Research Associate): modern Japanese/East Asian History “The Dissolution of the Japanese Empire and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Postwar East Asia, 1945-1965”

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Paula

Institution: University of Cambridge, Department of East Asian Studies/Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Location:   United Kingdom
Position:   Two Postdoctoral Fellowships (Research Associate) in modern Japanese/East Asian History for three year contract

Two Postdoctoral Fellowships (Research Associate) in modern Japanese/East Asian History for three year contract

Salary: grade 7, GBP 27,578-35,938 pa, plus some funding for short-term research trips to East Asia
Start Date: to start after 1 March 2013
Limit of Tenure applies
Quote Reference: GUAG050

Applicants are invited to apply for two fixed-term full-time posts (three years) of Research Associates to the project, The Dissolution of the Japanese Empire and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Postwar East Asia, 1945-1965. This project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC).

Full details of the posts can be seen online at:

http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/general_info/jobs/east-asian-history-ra.html

Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Todaiji Recreated with LEGOs, Pop-Up Style

Posted on November 30, 2012 by LM

While many of us cherish our Nanoblock replicas of Tokyo Tower and Shirakawa-go, LEGO-builder Tapalz recreates Japanese historical buildings on a far larger and more complicated scale: his models fold into a neat case and “pop up” like pictures in a pop-up book. But with LEGOs. The Todaiji model even includes a replica of the Daibutsu in the center!

Screenshot from video.

See his creations and instructions on how to make them at today’s fun link, “Japanese Guy Creates Amazing ‘Pop-Up’ LEGO, Blows Minds” at Kotaku.

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Job Opening: Content Expert for History of Nonwestern Art [part-time]

Posted on November 29, 2012 by LM

Institution: Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design
Location: Lakewood, CO
Posted: 11/21/2012
Application Due: Open Until Filled
Type: Part-Time/Adjunct
Education: MA required, PhD preferred

Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design seeks qualified applicants write and develop AH 3500 Advanced Studies in the History of Nonwestern Art for the online Liberal Arts Department:

Course Description: AH 3500 Advanced Studies in the History of Nonwestern Art
In the last of the sequence of required courses in the history of art, students concentrate on nonwestern topics and themes. Advanced studies are designed to allow students to focus intensively on themes, issues, methods, and theoretical frameworks that define nonwestern artistic traditions. Lectures, readings and assignments emphasize research, writing, and oral presentations. Topics vary from one term to another. Sample topics include: Arts of China, Arts of Japan, Religion and Art in the nonwestern world, and modern Latin American art, etc. At the conclusion of this course, students possess a deeper understanding of art historical movements, methods, and theories from the nonwestern world. Further, students refine and deepen their research and writing skills, researching and writing knowledgeably on topics from the course.

Candidates will have a Master’s degree in Art History, Ph.D. preferred. Candidates must have experience in the field, teaching online, and / or online development.

For full details and to apply, see posting on HigherEdJobs.com.

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Job Opening: Executive Secretary, Asian Languages & Cultures, University of Michigan

Posted on November 29, 2012 by LM

Institution: University of Michigan
Department: LSA Asian Languages & Cultures
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posting Begin/End Date: 11/20/2012 – 12/31/2012
Education: Bachelor’s preferred

Job Summary

This position provides administrative support to the Chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures as well as general secretarial/administrative support to the department. The successful candidate is expected to carry out advanced, diversified, and confidential secretarial and administrative duties requiring broad and comprehensive experience, a highly developed skill set, and knowledge of organizational policies and practices.

Compose and initiate routine correspondence; screen telephone calls, e-mail, and visitors, resolving both routine and complex inquiries; schedule appointments and meetings; create travel itineraries and coordinate all travel-related arrangements; effectively maintain Chair’s calendar and avoid conflicts in the schedule.

Develop and maintain a high level of understanding of all LSA procedures for faculty hiring, review and promotion. Manage applicant files for tenure-track and LEO lecturer searches and recruitment. Prepare reports and correspondence with a high degree of accuracy. Make travel arrangements for invited candidates and schedule job talks. Manage applicant dossiers and submit to LSA in a timely manner. Maintain organized promotion files. Oversee promotions timeline and ensure that deadlines are met. Submit complete promotion packets accurately and in a timely manner. Oversee the LEO lecturer review cycle. Manage the review timeline and ensure that review dossiers are submitted accurately and in a timely manner to the ALC and LSA Executive Committees.

Plan and coordinate meetings, receptions, programs and events including the use of facilities, services and equipment. Answer the main phone line, triage phone calls and interact with walk-in customers. Maintain supply inventory and place orders as necessary. Enter overrides for ALC classes and develop a working knowledge of the undergraduate concentration and minors. Perform other duties as assigned in order to support the goals and objectives of the department. Work as a team with highly-skilled staff in a fast-paced environment.

Required Qualifications

This position requires an extremely high level of organizational skills and high degree of confidentiality. Outstanding interpersonal as well as communication skills (written and verbal) are required. The candidate must have the ability to prioritize tasks, work independently, handle multiple tasks simultaneously and be able to synthesize the big picture/goals of the Department in to the specific tasks required to reach the objectives.

The successful candidate will be proactive in all aspects of the position, be imaginative and think outside the box. At least 5 years of administrative support to an upper level manager/executive, preferably in an academic setting. A Bachelor’s degree is highly desired. High level of MS Word proficiency with working knowledge of Excel and Outlook.

Desired Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree with experience at UM handling tenure and promotion cases as well as faculty recruitment. Working knowledge of LSA tenure and promotion policies and procedures. Experience working with LSA’s Management Reporting System (MRS). Experience in creating and utilizing a Sharepoint site. Experience with CMS/Vignette website management.

For full details and to apply, see original posting on the University of Michigan Jobs website.

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Managing your Digital Reputation

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Travis

For better or for worse, the days are gone where we were judged purely by our CVs, job interviews, and the like – today, despite laws prohibiting them from doing so, potential employers look at our Facebook profiles, and Google our names. So, even though I’ve always been resistant to the idea of denying my personal identity online, I’ve come to realize that it is more important than ever to make an effort to control your digital reputation.

Fortunately, Joe Sabado and Torrey Trust from Grad Division ran a workshop here at UCSB recently, sharing some tips. It turns out that the process is really quite easy, and “managing your personal brand” doesn’t feel as much like selling out as I expected it to.

Here are some of the key tips towards managing your online reputation:

*Google yourself. Torrey and Joe tell me that potential employers generally only look at the first page of results, so as long as the first few results are good, there’s no need to worry about it too much. Admittedly, I’m not sure really what to do about it if you have embarrassing results coming up for your name, but, despite having never paid too much attention to this before, or put much effort into it, my results are still quite good; there’s a good chance yours are too. So, maybe it’s not something to worry about too much.

Without my having to go out of my way to do anything, the first top results on Google for my name are my profiles on Academia.edu, LinkedIn, and Google+, and my blog. The top results on Image Search are all nice, professional-looking photos. And, below that, the next several results include my UCSB History Department bio, and a link to a conference presentation I once gave.

*Crank up your privacy settings on Facebook and other social media sites. Torrey and Joe recommend “managing and branding” rather than hiding, but, personally, I rather be the real me, and not some branded, artificially ultra-professional version of me, in my social networking. We should be free to share funny links with our friends, engage in our hobbies, go out and have a good time, and have employers and others respect our privacy. So, rather than replacing my Facebook profile with some plastic, ultra-professionalized version, I’ve simply hidden the majority of my details from everyone but my friends.

Privacy settings do a lot, not only on a single given site (e.g. Facebook) alone, but also for your Google Results. Turning the privacy knobs up to 11 on Facebook, Google Plus, etc. has hidden most non-professional pictures of myself from Image Search, and has even pushed my Facebook profile itself way down on the Google Results.

*Clean up and maintain your profile on sites like LinkedIn and Academia.edu. These are probably my least-well-maintained social media profiles, since, like most people, I spend most of my time on Facebook and Twitter. But, these two sites are the place to put forward your professional brand. Employers will look at these sites, and for me at least, they come up #1 and #2 on my Google Search results.

*Take a look at some of the meta-social-media search and alerts sites.
**Socialmention.com allows you to search for any term across various social media sites, and also to set up alerts so you’ll be notified when your search terms are mentioned. I searched for my name, and got no results, so.. either I’m doing a half-decent job of being pseudonymous, or something funny is going on.
**backtweets.com allows you to search for links, hashtags, usernames and the like across Twitter.
**Technorati.com has also been suggested to me as a good site for searching for yourself (or whatever terms you’d like) across over one million blogs.
**Google Alerts will keep you notified of new Google Search results that hit the web.
**Finally, BrandYourself.com is a service which walks you through a series of steps to take control of your Google Search Results, and of your appearance, or “brand”, online, otherwise.

You can find a summary of the UCSB workshop, and the slideshows, here: http://gradpost.ucsb.edu/career/2012/5/14/getting-a-job-20-branding-digital-reputation-and-social-medi.html

*Another good resource for these issues is the blog “Wasting Gold Paper,” in which my friend Molly DesJardin writes about anonymity, pseudonymity, digital humanities, and a variety of other topics.

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